You’ve got your website up. You have a squeeze page live online. You are collecting name and emails and growing your list.
Now you face an extremely important decision. Who or what will you trust to house and manage your growing list?
It is no exaggeration when I say the decision can make or break you.
We recommend all our customers use a web based autoresponder. Web based autoresponders are what we use in our business here at Overcome Everything Inc. Here is a brief outline of the 2 options with their pros and cons and why we recommend one over the other.
Let’s take a look at the web based autoresponders such as Aweber http://www.aweber.com. If you get a good one like Aweber you will have several immediate benefits. They take care of unsubscribes. They are always working on their deliverability (percentage of sent emails that reach an inbox). They keep on top of changing laws related to listbuilding.
They take care of details you wouldn’t even dream exist.
Web based autoresponders also have a leg up on you in terms of relationships with the major ISP’s. They have more leverage and experience when it comes to getting their systems dialed in the way the ISP’s want. This all equates to a potential increase in profits for you. Also hiring a 3rd party autoresponder saves you a ton of time.
In addition you don’t need a ton of technical skills to use a good web based autoresponder. Aweber especially does an excellent job of making their system easy to use, and has a vast amount of resources avaliable to help you learn. Another feature of web-based autoresponders is double optin. Most web based autoresponders have this feature set to optional, and some make it mandatory. Using double optin to build your list will result in a cleaner list and fewer spam complaints. It eliminates the possibility of somebody using someone else’s email address to sign up to your list.
Now lets take a look at Autoresponder software. This is software you install on your own server that collects and manages your optins. An example of such software is Autoresponse Plus.
To begin you will either need the technical skills to install it on your server or have the resources to pay someone else to do it for you. You will also have a lot more of your time taken up maintaining your system. Also if your IP address gets blocked because of spam complaints it’s now up to you to contact the ISP’s and try to convince them that you were not spamming. It’s tough to do.
The biggest benefit Autoresponder software has is it is more customizable. So if there is something you don’t like about how a web based autoresponder has their system setup you can setup your system the way you want..
To put it as simply as possible: Web based autoresponder means less work for you and higher deliverability. Autoresponder software means more work but it has more customization potential.
Here is my last critical MUST DO piece of advice: Always BACK UP YOUR LIST. This means every week without fail you login to your autoresponder wherever it may be and export your current subscriber list. Failing to do this is like playing Russian Roulette. You never know what can happen. If your chosen autoresponder service crashed tomorrow where would that list you slaved to build be? Probably gone forever. So please back up your list 
Find more make or break your business tips by signing up here at http://www.listformula.com
Victor Grosser aka Vic
Webmaster for Overcome Everything Inc.
@techvic on Twitter
